Apparatus for cleaning furs



April 1962 a. A. DATLOW ETAL 3,030,793

APPARATUS. FOR CLEANING FURS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 7, 1961 FIG. 2

INVENTORS BENJAMIN A. DATLOW MAX M. DATLOW BY W Mafia ATTORNEY April 24,1962 B. A. DATLOW ETAL 3,030,793

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING FURS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April '7, 1961BENJAMIN A. DAT'LOW MAX M. DATLOW I BY ww, M

ATTORNEY 3,030,793 -Patented Apr. 24, 1962 3,030,793 APPARATUS FORCLEANING FURS Benjamin A. Datlow, 1440 Rock Creek Ford Road NW.,

This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning furs, particularlyfur garments which have become dirty and soiled in normal use. Themachine can advantageously be used also for cleaning artificial furs orin fact any high pile fabrics.

It has been previously known that the application of materials such asfine saw dust, or the fine dust of ground shells of nuts, or fullersearth, along with a small amount of water or a solvent such as carbontetrachloride or perchlorethylene, to the fur garment, will cause theparticles of dirt and grease in the garment to be attracted to andabsorbed by these materials and that upon removal of the latter, thegarment will be effectively cleaned. The said cleaning materials may beapplied to the garment by tumbling it in a rotating drum, to which saidcleaning materials have been added, for a time sufiicient to cause anintimate application of said materials to all portions of the garment,clear down to the hide which carries the fur.

To complete the operation it is of course necessary that the cleaningmaterials which have been applied to the fur, be completely removed,carrying with them the dirt and grease which have been absorbed into orbecome attached to the said cleansing materials. It is with the problemof the complete and expeditious removal of said materials together withthe dirt and grease that this invention is particularly concerned.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an apparatus forexpeditiously removing from a fur garment, cleaning materials,previously applied thereto, together with the dirt absorbed thereby.

A further object of the invention is to facilitate the removal of saidmaterials and dirt by subjecting the garments to a tumbling action in acurrent of air.

A further object is to prevent the cleaning materials and the dirt fromreturning to the garments after they are separated therefrom.

Another object is to prevent the formation of static electrical chargeson the garments being cleaned.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference may be hadto the following detailed description and to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of the front side of the apparatusexemplifying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section view on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the rear side of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of one of the end units of theapparatus, on line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the middle unit of the apparatus,on line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

The apparatus shown in the drawings consists of three casings 1, 2 and 3mounted on suitable supports 4. The three casings have in common atrough like bottom 5 which in the use of the apparatus, will bepartially filled with water for a purpose which will be explained later.Each of the casings 1, 2 and 3 has a slot 6 in its rear wall to admitair thereto and each of the casings has a large opening 7 through whichthe fur garments to be cleaned may be inserted or withdrawn. A removableclosure 8 is provided for each of said openings 7. Opening into casings1 and 3 are pipes 9 for conveying water vapor into these casings whennecessary, to maintain the humidity therein sufiiciently high to preventthe occurrences of static electricity within these casings. This Watervapor may be steam coming from a supply pipe 10 shown in FIG. 3.

Within casings 1, 2 and 3 there are cylindrical drums 1 1, 12 and 13supported for rotation on bearings 24. The motive means for rotating thedrums are separate electric motors 14 connected through belts 15,pulleys 16 and gears 17 and 17a to the drums. Thus any one of the drumsmay be rotated or stopped independently of the others.

The middle drum 12 has solid imperforate walls. It is into this drumthat the soiled fur garments are first placed for the purpose ofapplying to them intimately and thoroughly the cleaning materials. Theinterior side'of the cylindrical wall of this drum is provided with deepribs or vanes 18 the purpose of which is to cause the soiled garments tobe tumbled about as this drum turns, to aid in the thorough applicationof the cleaning materials to the garments.

The other two drums 11 and 13 differ from the drum 12 in that theircylindrical walls 19 are perforate. In practice the cylindrical wallsare made of wire mesh with openings approximately /2 inch square.

The inner sides of the cylindrical walls 19 are provided with deep ribsor vanes 20 similar to the ribs 18 of drum 12. It is into the drums 111and 13 that the garments are placed after they have been subjected to athorough application of the cleaning materials in drum 12.

Each of the drums 11, 12 and 13 has a large opening in its cylindricalwall which by rotating the drum can be brought into register with thecorresponding opening 7 of the enclosing casing to allow insertion orwithdrawal of the garments being cleaned. A removable closure 21 made ofwire mesh is provided for each of these openings in the drums 11 and 13.The closure for the opening in drum 12 is solid.

The trough 5 which is at the bottom of the casings 1, 2 and 3 isprovided with means whereby air can be drawn from it. This meansconsists of several exhaust pipes 22 connected to the upper portion ofthe trough 5 at intervals along its length, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.These pipes are all connected to a large common exhaust conduit 23 whichmay be provided with a conventional exhaust fan for discharging thevapors to the exterior of the building in which the apparatus is housed.

In operation the fur garments to be cleaned are placed in the middledrum 12 through the opening 7 of easing 2 and the corresponding openingin the drum 12. When the drum has been loaded with garments, a cleaningmixture is also placed in the drum. This mixture may include some or allof the following well known cleaning materials, saw dust, finely groundnut shells, fullers earth, carbon tetrachloride, perchlorethylene andsome water.

After the openings have been closed by applying the closures 21 and 8,the drum '12 is placed in rotation by the motor 14 operating through thebelt 15', pulley 16 and gears 17, 17a. It has been found that for bestresults the drum 12 should be rotated about 21 revolutions per minute. Amuch faster rotation would result in the garments being held against theinterior surface of the drum by centrifugal force with littlepenetration of the cleaning materials into the garment. When however thedrum is rotated at the proper speed, the garments and the cleaningmaterials will tumble about under the action of the vanes or ribs 18 andbecome thoroughly mixed together. During this thorough mixing theparticles of dirt or grease with which the garment was soiled, becomeattached to or absorbed by the particles of the cleaning materials, sothat if the cleaning materials be now removed from the garment, theywill bring along the dirt and grease, and leave the garment clean.

The removal of the cleaning materials and the dirt they have absorbed isthe function of the drums 11 and 13. When the garments have been treatedin drum 12 for a sufficient time to cause a thorough application of thecleaning materials thereto, they are removed. Half are put in drum 11and half in drum 13. It has been found that in the operation of removingthe cleaning materials and dirt from the garments, the results arebetter when only half of the load from the mixing drum 12 is placed inone of the drums 11 and 13. After the closures 21 and 8 are made fastthese drums are set in rotation by the motors 14 at a speed of rotationof about 21 revolutions per minute. The rotation of these drums causes atumbling of the garments therein and a dislodging of the cleaningmaterials and the absorbed dirt and grease from the garments. Thisdislodging action is accelerated by the current of air which comingthrough the slots 6 into the casing and circulating through the garmentsin the drum, passes downward and impinges on the surface of the water inthe trough below the drum, before passing out the exhaust pipes 22. Theresult of this action is that the cleaning materials and the dirt arecaptured or entrapped by the water and are not recirculated through thespace Within the casings.

An additional feature of importance is the provision of the pipes 9 and111 for admitting Water vapor to the interior of casings 1 and 3 tomaintain the humidity Within these casings sufficiently high to inhibitthe formation of static electric charges within the casing. This ishighly t desirable because if static charges are present the individualhairs of the fur have a tendency to mat together and resist removal ofthe dirt therefrom.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A machine for cleaning furs, including a cylindrical perforate drumrotatably mounted in a casing and adapted to contain the furs to becleaned, said casing having a portion at its bottom adapted to contain apool of liquid with a surface below the bottom of the enclosed drum,means for rotating said drum to cause a tumbling of the furs therein,means for producing a current of air through said drum and impingementof said current on the surface of the liquid of said pool, incombination with means for preventing the formation of static electricalcharges Within said casing.

2. A machine as set forth in claim 1 in which said means for preventingthe formation of static electrical charges within said casing is a pipeconnected to said casing for supplying Water vapor to the interiorthereof to maintain the humidity therein at a desired level.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,463,075 Friedman July 24, 1923 1,763,462 Gable June 10, 1930 2,293,432Friedman Aug. 18, 1942 2,316,386 Albrecht Apr. 13, 1943 2,344,247Hopkins Mar. 14, 1944 2,388,619 Root Nov. 6, 1945 2,531,676 FriedmanNov. 28, 1950 2,591,663 Root Apr. 8, 1952

